Sonia yet to clear Rajiv in Bofors case: Advani

RAJKOT, Feb 21: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said today that Sonia Gandhi had not convincingly cleared her adversaries' suspicion about ...

RAJKOT, Feb 21: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said today that Sonia Gandhi had not convincingly cleared her adversaries’ suspicion about her husband Rajiv Gandhi’s alleged involvement in the Bofors payoffs case and asked her to immediately respond to premier I K Gujral’s contention that Congress withdrew support to his government fearing disclosure of the names of the beneficiaries of the pay-offs.

“They have not convincingly removed suspicion about Rajiv’s involvement in the scandal through Italian businessman and a close family friend, Ottavio Quattrocchi,” Advani said during an informal chat with mediapersons.

The BJP leader said Sonia Gandhi must immediately come out with an answer to Gujral’s statement made at an election meeting in Karnataka on February 18. “Coming from the country’s highest executive authority, this is a serious charge which requires an immediate answer from Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party,” Advani told newspersons at Chandigarh airport before leaving forShimla.

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Advani said BJP was “intrigued” that Gujral should have made such an important statement nearly a month after Sonia Gandhi first challenged the government to disclose the names of beneficiaries of the Bofors pay-offs. “Had he done so immediately, the electorate would have been properly educated about the Congress party’s conduct before the first round of polling took place,” he said.

Advani accused Congress of aiding and abetting terrorism in the country for the last two decades and termed as a “cruel joke” the remark by the president of that party Sitaram Kesri that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh could be behind Coimbatore blasts. “The Congress had promoted terrorism in Punjab and in the south and are responsible for the genesis of terrorism in the country,” he charged.